Art in Action: Climate Festival

FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

In the Wake of Progress Immersive Exhibition. © Edward Burtynsky photograph by Jim Panou.

Join us for the inaugural Art in Action: Climate Festival

January 30 – February 8, 2026
FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, St. Catharines, ON
artinactionniagara.ca

Immerse yourself in a 10-day experience that illuminates the beauty and fragility of our planet, reflects on the true cost of progress, and invites you to take meaningful action within your community.

Through immersive media, cinema, live performance, symposia, youth participation, culinary and wine experiences and arts partner events across Niagara, Art in Action (AiA) explores our changing planet and the opportunity we have to take action. Anchored by In the Wake of Progress—a powerful immersive multimedia work by St. Catharines-born artist Edward Burtynsky—AiA also features Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Avanti Singers, a week-long film festival, gallery exhibitions, educational programs, and a one-day climate symposium. Expect moving performances, striking imagery, and conversations that help you turn inspiration into action.

Dyralaekir River on Myrdalssandur, Southern Region, Iceland, 2012. Photo © Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto.

Art in Action: Climate Festival Programming Highlights

In the Wake of Progress – Edward Burtynsky
Saturday, January 31 – Sunday, February 8, 2026 | Daily Screenings
Robertson Theatre, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
Experience includes seated or standing options.
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In the Wake of Progress is an Immersive Experience with timed entry and sessions every 30 minutes. Tickets can be reserved in advance. Walk-up guests are welcome, space permitting. Your ticket grants all-day access to the experience, allowing you to return throughout the day, though re-entry is subject to availability.

Surround yourself with epic imagery and sound in this 22-minute immersive work spanning four decades of photography and film by Edward Burtynsky, a profound look at human industry’s imprint on Earth that invites reflection and next steps.

40 years in the making, this major multimedia project bears witness to the impact of human industry on the planet. This spectacular immersive art piece challenges us to have an important conversation about our legacy and the future implications of sustainable life on Earth.

Fireside Chat with Edward Burtynsky
Saturday, January, 31 2026 | 1pm
Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
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Happening on the same day as the Climate Symposium, join us for an exclusive fireside chat with acclaimed photographer and environmental advocate Edward Burtynsky. His insights will frame the day’s conversations in a global context, inspiring reflection on how Niagara connects to the world stage.

The Fireside Chat is hosted by moderator, Paul Kennedy. Think of it as a sequel to Paul and Ed’s Excellent Adventure from 2019. Paul is a veteran broadcaster and award-winning documentarist, and is best known for being the host of the program Ideas on CBC Radio One from 1999 to 2019.

Keep the conversation going before and after the fireside chat during the AiA Climate Symposium that takes place on Saturday, January 31, 10am – 5pm.

SKéN:NEN: Kaha:wi Dance Theatre. Photography by Rita Taylor, Banff Centre, 2024.

SKéN:NEN: Kaha:wi Dance Theatre
Friday, January 30, 2026 | 7:30pm
This performance is 60 minutes with no intermission.
Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
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Experience the theatrical premiere of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s SKéN:NEN, an immersive dance performance with a powerful narrative that is rooted in cultural knowledge and transcends time and place. Through mesmerizing choreography, storytelling, and innovative design, SKéN:NEN explores Indigenous resilience within the self, community, and natural world.

The Kanyen’kéha (Mohawk) word skén:nen (Sgah:nah) translates to mean peace and balance.

Come together in community with us on opening night to experience this powerful story.

Creation & Direction: Santee Smith

Kaha:wi Dance Theatre would like to acknowledge the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Young People’s Theatre, and Canada Council for the Arts for their Support.

Creation/Extinction: Avanti Singers
Saturday, February 7, 2026 | 7:30pm
Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
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Join Avanti Singers for Creation/Extinction, a meditation on the beauty of the earth and the environmental challenges it faces. This program features an abbreviated chamber edition of Haydn’s majestic tribute to the natural world, The Creation, alongside contemporary reflections on the urgent need for environmental care and stewardship.

Art in Action Film Festival
Saturday, January 31 – Sunday, February 8, 2026
The Film House, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
View Schedule and Purchase Tickets

Settle into intimate cinematic experiences for a week of documentaries and features that meet this moment—acclaimed works and urgent new voices, with conversations that connect art, science, and community. Post-film talks and guest Q&As are scheduled throughout the week. VIP Film Festival Passes and single film tickets are available.

Green Carpet Opening and VIP Film Festival Pass
The Art in Action: Film Festival is offering VIP passes that grant entrance to every showing (including the Green Carpet opening of Anthropocene: The Human Epoch & Crush: Message in a Bottle) for $100. Reserve your VIP Pass Today!

FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) aims to provide meaningful opportunities to bring our community together in a place of mutual understanding, empathy, and respect through the arts.

Land Acknowledgement

The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) is located in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario at the corner of St. Paul and Carlisle Streets on the shared traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Neutral Peoples and many other Indigenous People from across Turtle Island. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and is within the land protected by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum agreement. We offer our sincere gratitude and respect to the original and continued stewards of this land and are reminded that our great standard of living is directly related to the resources and friendship of Indigenous Peoples.

FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
250 St. Paul Street
St. Catharines, ON L2R 3M2
www.firstontariopac.ca
boxoffice@firstontariopac.ca
905-688-0722

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Accessibility:
The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre is an accessible venue. For more information, visit here.

This event has been financially assisted by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, administered by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund Corporation, the Canada Arts Presentation Fund from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Niagara Community Foundation (NCF), the City of St. Catharines, Canada Council for the Arts, and Tourism Niagara.